Ticket office hours could be slashed at railway stations across West Dunbartonshire and Helensburgh in a move dubbed “ridiculous”.
ScotRail is consulting on proposals to dramatically cut opening hours at Alexandria, Balloch, Cardross, Dumbarton Central, Dalreoch and Helensburgh Central.
The plans include changes to opening times at Alexandria which would operate between 9.15am and 2.45pm on a Saturday as opposed to the current times of 6.30am until 11.30pm, if proposals go ahead as planned.
Dumbarton Central’s office, which is open until midnight Monday to Saturday, would shut at 8pm, while on Sundays it would close at 4pm instead of the current 11.10pm.
Passengers at Helensburgh Central would see the ticket office hours slashed from 5.55am until midnight to 7am until 7pm on a Saturday under proposals.
ScotRail say more passengers are buying their tickets online or using ticket vending machines – with a 50 percent drop in the use of offices.
However, Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie slammed the plans and called on the Scottish Government to step in.
She said: “This is absolutely unacceptable. My constituents deserve better than a second-rate service which they have experienced for a number of years under the SNP’s watch.
“All of this is happening while fares have risen again this month and routes are being drastically cut back.
“ScotRail are representing this as ‘delivering a better level of service to customers’ which is a gross misrepresentation of the truth. These cuts will hit passengers, threaten jobs and compromise station safety which is vitally important to people in my constituency.
“We won’t get people back on trains by cutting rail services to the bone.
“I am appalled at this proposal and I urge the Scottish Government to intervene and ensure these ridiculous plans don’t go ahead.”
ScotRail say no staff members would lose their jobs as part of the review.
Chiefs say the proposed changes would see less fare fraud, reduce anti-social behaviour, generate more revenue and introduce new family friendly working hours and part time shifts which have not been prevalent in the past.
Phil Campbell, head of customer operations at ScotRail, said: “There has been no real review of our ticket office opening hours for 30 years, and it is important we keep up with the changing habits of customers who no longer rely on purchasing tickets in that way.
“With more than a 50 percent drop in the use of ticket offices, heightened by the pandemic, we want to do everything we can to make sure everyone has a hassle-free journey.
“Nobody in ScotRail will lose their jobs as a result of these changes, and it is important to note that rather being about cutting jobs, this is about adding value for our staff and customers.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “ScotRail’s three-week public consultation will provide passengers with the opportunity to have their say on the proposals regarding ticket office opening hours.”
Visit www.scotrail.co.uk/scotrail-ticket-office-consultation to take part.
